Chuck vs Charles
by sudhanva08
Summary: Chuck Bartowski vs Charles Carmichael : Two different people or two sides of the same coin? Join as Sarah Walker rediscovers Chuck in a new light. This story is an AU that follows cannon until Chuck vs Nemesis. This follows the path of what would have happened if Sarah had left with Bryce. And after a few years runs into CIA Agent Charles Carmichael.
1. Chapter 1

**Chuck vs Charles**

 **Chapter 1**

 **Chuck vs Pilot**

* * *

 **A/N :** _This story picks up after the events of Chuck vs The Nemesis ( S1E10 ) It branches off cannon from that point. It is an AU where Sarah goes after the events of nemesis, and Chuck is in a daze as to why Sarah left, and of course angry that she left. As the story progresses, what actually happened will become a lot more clearer._

 **A/N :** _There will be multiple story arcs, and all characters will act according to the developments in story, if they seem OOC, it is because of the developments that have taken place. This is not a story where Chuck is - as Sugar bear would say - a moron. I should also probably add that Intersect 2.0 does not exist in this universe. I have always disliked that arc, and if any of you absolutely need 2.0 to exist - you shouldn't probably continue reading this story._

 **A/N :** _There will be third person, and first person POVs throughout the story. Keep an eye out for those. Also there will be time jumps and flashbacks sprinkled throughout. Okay without anymore ado, let's begin. What? Disclaimer? Yeah.. I don't own Chuck nor am I making any money from this story. All copyrights belong to the respective owners._

* * *

 _Undisclosed location  
_ _Sometime after midnight_

Sarah looked up at the brute of a man that had slapped her across the face and made her fall on her side. Normally she would have ducked or deflected the swinging arm, but with her hands handcuffed behind her and her legs zip-tied to the metal chair she was sitting on, she didn't have much choice other than to endure the pain, and wait for her captors to slip up.

As she was on the floor, trying to look more hurt than she actually was, she contemplated how she had ended up in this mess, and how it wasn't her fault at all since she wasn't the one who screwed up. But looking back, she had become a lot more of a loose cannon, much like Carina. Because she would have in no way allowed anyone, even Carina, to screw up, and no way in hell would her older self have been caught. She had changed, and she could pin point the cause and time that had happened. Still she couldn't afford to dwell on that now.

Carina had always been a wild-card and she should have expected her to screw up any plans she had made. So internally cursing herself for not thinking about something like this, she said in a fake hurt voice "Aaaw! Holy hell that hurt. Please stop, please don't hit me I-I'm just a fresh recruit I-I'll tell you anything you want. Please don't hit me again"  
The brute of a man suddenly grinned, and the effect was looking at a sinister looking gorilla-How he could look scarier when obviously he was trying to smile was beyond her at this moment, and he said "Not sounding so tough now are you?"  
But another voice, obviously the man in charge, from behind him said "Don't let down your guard around her Hulio, she killed three of my men tonight"  
Sarah having actually killed five thought that was good. She had caught a little luck and she could work with that.

She almost let out a jiggle when the boss man banged his fist on the door and walked out when it opened. Her excitement died however as saw two guards outside each with a tactical vest and holding a M16. That's a bit too much security for one prisoner, she thought.  
The said bodyguard hulio had turned serious when his boss had mentioned her taking out three of his men, and was now scowling at her "Tell me everything, who do you work for and why were you at the estate tonight"  
Sarah pretend sobbed and said "Atleast right the chair, my arm is killing me. Please"  
As soon as hulio had bent down and lifed the chair she kicked hulio in the balls with her leg which she had slipped off the zip tie when the chair had fell sideways and head bumped him, knowing she would be hurt from the move as much as him, but couldn't be helped. Hulio staggered back and fell backwards with a yelp.  
Sarah shaking her head from side to side to dissipate the effect of starts clouding her vision, quickly lifted the chair with her hands and as soon as the other zip tie was off let the aluminum chair drop. she quickly strode over and bashed her knee into hulio's face as he was trying to get up to knock him out for some time. She turned around and bent down after making sure he was out and searched for keys with her hands. She quickly found a phone which she dropped and then getting the key she took off the handcuffs and turned around and stood up. Now she searched him again for a gun and found that the phone she had dropped earlier was hers. She took it and sighed. Hulio didn't carry a gun. I mean which bad guy bodyguard didn't carry a gun?  
She could still try to make it out but she knew there were atleast two guys outside automatic rifles. And she didn't know who else was waiting for her down below. There weren't any windows in the room she was held in, plus her cocktail dress wasn't what you would call bulletproof.  
She tapped through the security on her phone and sent out a distress signal.

* * *

 _Office of Gen. Beckman  
_ _NSA HQ. Fort Meade -_ _Sometime around midnight_

General Beckman was sitting behind her desk as usual even though it was late, holding a now empty glass of scotch. She was willing to look the other way at a little collateral damage when it was impossible to avoid, but she couldn't just look past 28 innocent lives, all dead, because of one agent, and she had to pin another badge on him. She didn't deny he brought results but his bull-headed way of getting to the results were what didn't sit well with her.

She sighed again, and went home. It wouldn't do to dwell on those things, nor would drinking scotch through the night.  
Charles Carmaichael was the reason she had been keeping a well stocked scotch cabinet in her office afterall.

* * *

 _Casa Woodcombe  
_ _Echo Park, LA - 11:50pm_

It was almost midnight as chuck holding a bag made his way to Ellie and Devon's apartment. It seemed silly to him that he was so nervous to knock the door of the apartment he used to live in.  
He took a deep breath as he raised his hand and knocked it thrice.  
He heard the sound of someone getting up from the couch and his sisters footsteps as she came to answer the door and opened it.  
It didn't surprise him that he could distinguish the footsteps of people, it was just one of the many qualities he had picked up along his way.  
He smiled at Ellie as the look of complete shock came over her face, she turned pale as if she had seen a ghost.  
When she asked "Am i dreaming?" Chuck wanted to punch himself in the gut, but managed a lame "Nope"  
And she suddenly screamed "Chhuuck! Oh my god Chuck is it really you" although it wasn't posed as a question, before he could answer he was enveloped in a bear tight hug while she cried into his shoulder and in between sobs she said "Where have you been? Why didn't you tell me you were coming? How have you been?" and kept sobbing. He couldn't answer her. He felt so goddamn guilty for leaving her, that he just let his own tears spill. He was happy and his sister was hugging him. There wasn't any reason to be nervous. She suddenly pushed herself out of his arms and smacked his arm hard and let out a whimper.  
He spoke too soon, He thought. He had been expecting yelling and getting punched. Why did she whimper? He had not been expecting that.  
When she held her hand and jumped yelling "Ow! that hurt. What is your shirt made up of? steel?"  
That's why. He sighed. It was his arm that was hard not his shirt. Maybe he would have to teach her how to properly punch someone. Or maybe it was good she didn't know. She would pound him to a pulp otherwise. Still he lifted his arms and placing them on Ellie's shoulders directed her back to the couch and went to the kitchen grabbed some ice from the fridge and grabbed a clear wrap and walked back and handed his sister a homemade ice pack and sat down beside her. She put the ice pack on her wrist and said stiffly "It's been 4 months chuck FOUR months since i last HEARD your voice. Is it that hard to pick up the phone and call?"  
Chuck turns it over in his head and says "I'm sorry ellie. It's just that I've been busy and it's no excuse. I'm sorry."  
She sniffs and says "It's just, I miss you little brother. It's been years since I last saw you. How have you been?"  
"I've been great ellie. Really I'm sorry for.. for everything. for not calling you more often, for not being here more often"  
"It's okay chuck. You're here now atleast. Right?"  
"Yeah. I'm here" He didn't need to tell her he would be leaving in a few days again. She didn't need to know that right now.

* * *

 **A/N :** _Things will get a lot more interesting in the next chapter. Some things will be revealed, some more questions will be raised. Is chuck the reason for the general drinking so much ? If so what does that mean ?  
_

 _*wink wink* It's not what you think._

 _Read and Review. I love to hear from you guys._


	2. Chapter 2

**Chuck vs Charles**

 **Capter 2**

 **Chuck vs Backup**

* * *

 **A/N :** _Here's the second chapter in the story. A lot more stuff is revealed, and there's some action! Yay!  
_

 _Also some new revelations for some charecters to deal with._

 _Oh yeah, Disclaimer - Don't own chuck, or stanford. All copyrights belong to their respective owners._

* * *

 _Casa Woodcombe_  
 _Echo Park, LA - 0015 hours_

Chuck took a sip from the coffee mug in his hands and cleared his throat. Ellie hadn't said anything. She simply sipped the coffee chuck gave her and sat studying him. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence but to break it he said "How's devon?"  
"He'll be home soon. His shift.. ended about 15 mins ago."  
As if on cue they heard him come up to the door and open it. Stopping when he turned to face the couch "Hey bab-Chuckster is-is it you?"  
Chuck standing up to greet Devon said "Hey devon, How you been?"  
Devon stepped forward and hugged him and said "I've been-Woah. Have you been working out bro? Because wow, that's firm"  
"Yeah. Like a rock" Ellie supplied.  
"What happened babe?" Devon asked only now noticing her holding the ice pack.  
"What happened is _I_ punched chuck" She said with a grimace Chuck sighed again and apologized for Ellie punching him when clearly it was her fault for punching him. He didn't dare say that to her though.

Devon just gave an odd look, ignoring the whole thing for now and said "Chuck you staying with us"  
Chuck wasn't sure it was a question but answered anyways "Yeah. If it's not a problem"  
"It's no problem at all chuck. You know you're welcome here. But uh.. your old room isn't exactly free" Ellie said.  
"No problem El, The couch is more than comfortable."  
"Are you sure?"  
"Yeah, I'm sure. Why don't you guys go ahead and get some shut eye. I'm going to do the same. I'm just as tired as you guys" and catching ellie's expression he added "I'll still be here in the morning. I promise"  
Ellie searched his face and finally conceding said "You are not off the hook yet little brother. I'm just tired and sleepy right now"  
"Oh. I know" Chuck said.

* * *

 _Casa Woodcombe_  
 _Echo Park, LA - 0200 hours_

He immediately sat up as soon as he heard his phone vibrate on the table. His one hand under the pillow, he looked around and picked up his phone, noticing the caller id, or lack thereof, he immediately answered it and held it to his ear and said "Carmaichael secure"  
"I understand. But I'm on vacation, _sir_ "  
"Who is it this time?"  
"Sarah? What's the location?"  
"I'll take care of it"  
Tossing on his pants and a black shirt, he rummaged through his bag and got extra mags and a knife. Tucking his handgun in his waistband, he took his phone and quickly tied on his shoes and picked up his knife and stuck it in his ankle holster.  
He took spare magazines and kept them in his pockets. Without making any noise he quietly slipped out of the home, and ran towards the street. He quickly noticed a few nice fast cars. He didn't want to steal any cars near Ellie's home, but it couldn't be helped. He broke into a car and hotwired it, and after glancing at the map from the co-ordiantes from his message, he drove off breaking all speed limits in his newly commandeered mustang.  
Bless LA for nice cars.

* * *

 _Undisclosed location_  
 _Somewhere in LA, 0205 hours_

Sarah looks again at the room. It is built from old brick walls which means that it's old. And given it's abandoned it's probably an old factory.  
That dosen't do her any good though. She is still stuck in this room and someone will come in soon enough to check up on her and hulio.  
Thankfully hulio is still out. She knows there's no other CIA agent nearby and Carina wouldn't be coming to her rescue. The Tactical team would be a long time away and they aren't as discreet. If they show up she will most likely be tried to use as a bargaining chip to exchange so that they don't shoot. She knows there's no way that's gonna happen. The tactical team will shoot through without stopping and they will most likely come in to kill her. She huffs and just sits back on the chair deciding to wait for 10 more mins. That's the standard response time. If there's an agent nearby or if the tactical team comes early.  
When they come in she will battle it out with whoever comes to kill her.  
Yes that's the best course of action for now- She thinks as she keeps pacing across the room.  
10 mins pass. She checks her phone. Still no signal. She wonders if the distress signal went out in the first place.  
She knows it's supposed to work even if there's no cell network. Right? Some tech guy had said as much, along with some more tech babble that she couldn't bother paying attention to. Yeah, it's supposed to work.  
Damn pacing- It is no longer calming. But she keeps pacing anyways.

Hulio begins to stir. Couldn't have stayed limp hulio?  
She walks up to him and grabs his shoulder lifts it and holds him in a chokehold, he starts to kick out with his hands and legs each attempt growing weaker and weaker until he stops altogether and falls limp. She lets his body hit the floor and stands up feeling a little more disgusted.  
She knows that it's been almost 20 mins. If somebody was coming here they would be here already.  
She knows she can take out the doorman.  
She hasn't seen the doorman yet, but he's nearby. And the door's all metal and they have no _pass-phrase_ even.  
Piece of cake. No, it's the guards she is worried about. Once they start shooting, all hell will break loose. She doesn't know how many guys are in the floor below her, because she is definite she isn't at ground floor, the old floor is a dead giveaway of the fact.  
Well I've been stuck in worse situations- she thought. Just have to act quickly. Move from cover to cover. Aim and fire.

She raps the door with her fist thrice, just like she had watched the bossman do, _and abracadabra_ , the door slides open.  
As soon as it opens she takes the guard's right arm with her left and pulls him in the room, and simulteneously hits his throat with her right arm. Disarming him of his handgun, from his holster, while he is making chocking noises, she quickly hits him with the butt of the handgun over his head. he falls down with a groan.  
Although the whole thing was quiet and over in a couple of seconds, one of the guard saw the exchange and yelled at the other, and started shooting.  
She had only the warning of the first guard yelling to take cover.  
As soon as was behind the wall the bullets started pinging off the door, and some hit the floor and others hit the wall.

They have a lot more ammo than her and though they are firing automatics, she cannot bleed them dry. They will come into the room and then it's nighty-night for her.  
She leans a little to the left and squeezes of two more shots and cursed under her breath. She ejects the magazine to see she has only two bullets left.  
Two bullets and two bad guys with guns. Remembering the same situation when she was pinned down from bullets in Stanford with Casey, when she had a single bullet left in her pistol and made the choice that she would go for it. Stand out of cover and fire, they return fire- _it's over_. She will have been granted a swift death.  
She had served her country. If she had to die she would die with a bullet now rather than after enduring torture.  
So she took a deep breath, about ready to come out of cover, when she heard glass breaking.  
Thanking whatever luck she had happened upon, she jumped out of cover, knowing the guards would be distracted, she brought her own gun up to fire, when she heard guns go off thrice in quick succession. Three shots, or rather three kill shots. She watched as the two guards fell down almost together, whoever he or she was was quick.  
She held her gun pointed towards the direction where her savior was and said in a quiet but firm voice "Lower your weapon"

* * *

She always gets annoyed and frustrated when people don't take her seriously, she gets even more so looking at the dark form of her savior chuckling with the hand carrying the gun still pointed at her, when she is clearly asking him to lower his weapon.  
Godamnit, it doesn't matter that he may have saved her, but that doesn't mean he can stand there and laugh when she asks him to lower his goddamn gun. Just because he had killed the two guards didn't mean he was a good guy, or that he was there to rescue her. Killing the two only gets him a fair warning to explain himself before she would shoot him to escape.  
She always hated men who didn't take her seriously because she was a girl, no matter she could out shoot most of them.

Thankfully, _for him_ , he lowers his gun although the chuckle still unnerves her. She takes a step forward towards him, her gun still pointed at him, and asks "Who are you?"  
She gasps as he steps forward into the light and she hears _his_ voice.

* * *

 **A/N :** _dun-dun-dun, She hears **his** voice, who might he be?  
Read and Review._

 _Also a shoutout to fezzywhigg for the first review. Thanks so much. Would love to hear about your opinions about the coming chapters.  
As I've said before, this is a pretty big story with a few story arcs taking place at once. Strap-in, you're in for a ride!_

 _Cheers!_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chuck vs Charles**

 **Chapter 3**

 **Chuck vs Backup - Part 2**

* * *

 **A/N :** _Chuck's POV of the same night. Just because._  
 _Oh, and i also don't have a beta. So all mistakes are mine._

 _Disclaimer : I don't own Chuck. All copyrights belong to their respective owners._

* * *

 _Echo park area, LA - 0200 hours_

He gripped the steering wheel of the mustang he had stolen rather tightly as he sped towards her location. He knew where she was but knowing she had sent a distress signal meant she was in trouble.  
 _Wow, and the sky's blue._ What other awesome facts would his brain conjure up now? He was totally loosing it. What the hell was suddenly wrong with him?  
Deep breath, calm, stick to your training. _Clear your mind.  
_  
He was breaking all traffic rules in his road rage but he didn't care. If any police tried to run his face against the database by using traffic cam images, his name would come up as something else and the CIA would handle it. He smiled at the thought.  
But the small smile quickly turned upside down when the car infront of him deliberately slowed down, and he had to slow down to match it's speed. He suddenly let out a very casey like growl -and it broke him from his stupor. _He shouldn't be freaking out_ -he thought.

He sighed and floored the accelerator again and quickly maneuvered past the volkswagon that had slowed him down.  
He used be someone who followed all the rules, including traffic rules and used to be a _little_ afraid of casey's driving. Which while no longer was the case, he still drove decently enough when not in a hurry, and didn't resort to taking advantage of the fact that no cop would mess with him. Although when he was in a hurry, _which was the case most of the times as was now_ , he made most of the other cars around him just give him space. Or flip him the bird as he sped past them.

He remembered people giving much more space to casey when he was driving his crown vic. It was interesting how that man could inspire fear in people by not even trying. Well that was Major John Casey for you.

Before he started his training he wouldn't have believed that he could drive like this, keep a map of where he needed to go, keep time, _and_ debate driving styles of one major in his head at the same time.  
But it was almost second nature now to keep a mental map of where he was and to keep a track of time. It was like a background process that always kept running without him thinking about it too much.  
He suddenly honked loudly at the truck that was coming to hit him from the side and he pulled the handbrake while steering left, and then, releasing the handbrake, pushed the gas all the way to the floor again. He drifted a bit but mostly sped through clear and still kept going fast enough that he felt like he was in one of the fast and furious movies and he was currently in a street race.

Pushing all such useless thoughts to the back of his mind and focusing he quickly turned, drifting into the side road with the engine revving loudly, he continued speeding past buildings for some time and discreetly parked in a side alley about 100 meters away from an old building, from which the co-ordinates seemed to have originated, but still well enough away and hidden that nobody would notice the black mustang in the night.  
Quickly getting out he jogged silently toward, and cased, the building. It was an old building with brick walls and a single large window on the first floor. He couldn't get to the window from down here. There was a ledge that he could use to get up to the roof but it wouldn't really do him any good. To reach the ledge he would have to reach the ventilation shaft that seemed to come from the inside.  
The building, all in all, was dark and foreboding. Looking at the building, he surmised that she was captured and brought here for questioning. He didn't see how sarah might be held downstairs, so he assumed that there was a room on the top floor that they had her in. It would be awesome if only he could go through that window. Drop in, shattering the glass everywhere, and take her away.

What interested him the most was that nobody was patrolling outside and he couldn't really see any men on alert.  
There would have to have been more than a few. Sarah wouldn't call for help otherwise. So, he was on his guard looking for possible snipers and silently creeping towards the entrance. He took out his gun and held it ready. And peeked inside through a small stained glass window.  
There appeared to be about 5 men spread here and there through the ground floor of what he assumed to be an old metal factory. He saw that there wasn't much order to the people that were spread out. It seemed they weren't expecting anyone to come. He smiled to himself. This was going to be fun.

Tucking the gun back in his waistband, he pulled himself up and pulled at the window to open. It swung up enough and he pulled himself up all the way and silently dropped inside and hid behind a big crate. Waiting for the walking guard to approach him, he waited patiently, the guard would walk right past him, as soon as he crossed him, he came up behind him and brought both his hands to the sides of his head and folded them into a headlock, with one hand covering his mouth, while dragging him behind to his hiding place, and proceeded to snap his neck.  
Letting his body slump down, he searched his pockets and found a SIG P229 elite with a suppressor attached.  
 _Excellent_ , he thought, this would make things a lot easier, as he slowly got up and went further in.

He found another patrol by himself calling for someone named "Josh, Joshey where are you?" Chuck stood waiting for him to come his way and held his knife at the ready. He had a Ka-bar, and it had come in handy a lot of times.  
Just as soon as the patrol registered someone coming at him from behind, his breath caught and he looked down to see a knife protruding from the front, having punctured his kidney. Chuck dragged back the body and moved it a little to a hiding place.  
 _Well, you and your pal joshey are in the same place now_ , Chuck thought.  
It always made him a little sick to kill people, never having liked or ever even being okay with it in the first place, but he had come to learn that sometimes it was a necessary sacrifice, and that he was protecting the grater good, as his instructor had told him repeatedly.

He had to believe it, because if he didn't he couldn't live with the fact of having killed so many people, having so much blood on his hands that he couldn't wash them anymore.  
He knew such thoughts came to him when he saw fear of death and fear of him in their eyes, but he had since adjusted and grown deft at pushing such thoughts away and giving in to his training to overcome such thoughts. _Atleast when I'm on a mission,_ he amended _._  
Not a second had passed when all of these thoughts had come and been pushed back in his brain. Still he knew the importance of a second. A second could mean life or death in certain situations, and he couldn't afford a second now.

Rounding a corner of a big blast furnace, he found two people standing together facing away from him, and smoking. He shot both of them in the back of the skull. They didn't have any time to react, not even to turn toward him. They fell to the ground with a thud, and he was sure the sound could be heard from anyone in the same floor. So he quickly climbed onto the forge and sat crouched in a crook so that he was protected from all three sides and couldn't be seen in the darkness and waited. He could hear other guards coming to see what the sound was.  
One guy came running, always a mistake -you should never let your guard down, and as soon as he rounded the corner, chuck took aim and fired. he fell in a slump near the other three guys.  
He waited as another guy made his way and was shot down without much sound, other than the silent sound of the bullet leaving the muzzle and the thud of the body, and he waited.

When no one else came after 60 seconds had passed, he decided to investigate the other side of the factory. Afterall building was sort of big and there were a lot of crates everywhere, enough to make a maze, and enough to dampen the sound.  
And so he got down as silently as he could and walked towards the other end. He didn't want to make any noise that would alert any remaining guards near him or on the floor above him. He didn't want them to come down or get any other ideas yet.

Hearing sounds on the other side, he jumped and catching his hands on the edge of the large press machine he pulled himself up silently, and saw that there were four guys, all standing in a circle talking. It seemed serious as none of them were laughing. Eh, _Probably talking about some sad event in their life._ That or planning a mutiny with the way their faces look.  
Looking down for a brief second and taking a deep breath he ran to the edge and jumped at the bad guy facing away from him, with chuck's knee coming down on the guy's skull, and as he went down he quickly fired two shots at another guy on his right and rolled on his shoulder, tucking in his knee and was back on his feet as he completed his roll and quickly shot the remaining two guys in the heart, and the one who was down in the head. It was a mercy, rather than leave him with the head injury to slowly die.

The slide clicked empty, he threw the gun away and started to find a way to the top floor.  
20 mins had passed since he had received the call from Graham, still no sign of sarah.  
He quickly found the door that he supposed would lead to the stairs. he couldn't force open this door, he would have to find the key. Or find another way.  
He looked around and found rope from one of the crates, not long enough for anything really, but he still picked it up. He saw that he could reach the ventilation system if he climbed up on the blast forge again. A plan formed in his head, he didn't really like that plan as much though.

Once he pulled himself up onto the roof he cut and tied the rope to the only possible and nearest set of old exhaust pipes. He hoped they would hold, and started advancing towards the ledge, when he heard guns going off, he stilled and heard that it was on the floor below him, he could hear atleast one rifle going off. shots of three, break and shots again.  
 _Sarah must be in trouble_ , quickly picking up the rope, tugging it once, and without regarding if the rope was even strong enough to hold his weight, he ran and leaped off the ledge and let the rope slip a little through his hands as he came back toward the wall and angled his body so that his legs and his knees would break most of the glass. As he came near the black glass window he quickly brought his hands up to cover his face and let go of the rope, and broke through the window and automatically rolled, and brought his gun tucked into his waistband out and fired three shots.

His breath hitched as he looked at Sarah aiming a gun at him, his mind raced as he looked at her.  
She still has that kind of effect on him. It wasn't healthy and shouldn't be allowed to exist. Afterall she didn't want him, and he would atleast respect her choices.  
She briefly looked at where the now dead bodies have fallen and held her gun pointed at his head. His instincts screamed at him to dive behind cover, but he simply stared at her, a smile tugging at his lips and he heard her say "Lower your weapon"

He is surprised at himself as a chuckle escaped from his throat but decides against pushing her further and lowers his hands.  
Still looking at her and all he can think about is how beautiful she looks in that blue cocktail dress. He mentally kicked himself for acting like a fool.  
He berates himself for loosing control like that and looks at her objectively, _as objectively as he can at the moment_ , as she steps forward and asks him who he is, he answers with another chuckle "This is hardly the place or time agent walker"

* * *

 **A/N :** _For anyone interested : The building mentioned is an old metal press factory, with the top floor, being an office, and a storage chamber. The office, space into which you first enter, upon coming up the stairs, had a large, old styled, arched plain glass window, which chuck broke through._

 _Seriously though, this was just because i had written it beforehand, and wanted to post it. You may or may not get chapters in the future with different POVs of the same stuff that happened._  
 _I have a good buffer of about 5 chapters written, but those chapters are raw. I still have to refine them, and so i will try to make and stick to a schedule but, updates will come mostly unscheduled._  
 _Best way to keep track of progress is to follow the story. I complete my stories, and updates will be fairly regular. No long breaks in-between._

 _Thanks for all the `_ great start` _reviews, I love hearing from you guys._

 _Also special thanks to fezzywhigg and another guest reviewer who have pointed out to me about 'hulio' being spelt wrong. I apologize. I had intended for the_ _spanish Julio or it's portuguese equivalent Júlio as it may be._

 _Read and Review._

 _Cheers._


	4. Chapter 4

**Chuck vs Charles**

 **Chapter 4**

 **Chuck vs Backup - Part** **3**

* * *

 **A/N :** _Next chapter! Yay!  
This chapter is mostly Sarah's POV. It is first person, so we are privy to some of her thoughts during this chapter. Though mind you -not all thoughts!_

 _Standard disclaimers apply. I do not own Chuck. All rights held by respective owners._

* * *

 _Metal factory,_ _LA - 0230 hours_

 _She gasps as he steps forward into the light and she hears **his** voice.  
_"This is hardly the place or time agent walker" he says.

"Chuck?" I ask bewildered and drop my hand holding the gun pointed at him. My head is spinning and nothing is making sense right now.  
"I would prefer it if you wouldn't call me by any of my names, _here_ " he says.  
Still in shock i manage "How.. you.. What-what are you _doing_ here?"  
"I'm here to save you" he says, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

I grimace at the fact " _You're_ here to... save _me?_ " Huh. _That sounded odd to me even in my head.  
_ He looks annoyed now and just says "You did send out the distress signal, didn't you?" and starts moving towards the dead guards.  
I just nod not really trusting my voice to work right now.  
He bends down and pries the gun out of the now dead guard's hands.

I quickly shake my head back and forth in quick succession to rid the bizarre dream and I voice "Is this a dream? It looks too vivid and feels too real"  
He sighs again and says "Did they inject you with something? Wait here. I'm gonna be back" and extends an arm with a gun to me.  
Inject me with something? "No" _They didn't inject me with anything._ Why would he think that?

However without thought my arm extends and dropping the pistol I accept the new gun. It's the M16 the guards were using.  
He walks into the room where I was held and comes back out after a few seconds. "Nothing there" he says. Of course nothing's there. What did he hope to find?

Chuck however goes to the other dead guard and takes the M16 from him as well as some small object, and gestures for me to follow with his head.  
He starts moving towards the only other door. He puts in a key and turns and pushes open the door to reveal a flight of stairs going down.

My training finally kicking in, because of the only thing that makes sense in a hostile area is keeping him safe -at all costs, I pull him back by his hand and whisper ask "Do you know how many are down there?"  
He eyes me critically before simply saying "Ten" even as he says it though I notice a subtle but sure glint in his eyes.  
I, however, ignore it attributing it to the strange nature of this dream. "Alright. You stay here. I'll go first" and without waiting for, or expecting, any response I start moving.

He follows me walking beside me at ease. _Not even bothering to hold his gun at the ready._  
"What are you doing? I told you to stay back. Why don't you _**ever**_ listen to me?" Figures. Even in my dream chuck manages to annoy me. _Why doesn't he ever listen?_

He is still moving beside me without a worry and i hear another one of those chuckles. What is up with that guy and his chuckles? He _never_ used to laugh like that before.  
Nor was he an expert marksman shooting down two guards. And now as i steal a glance from the corner of my eye, I notice he is confident and holding the gun perfectly and following me without making any noise.

I decided that that's what unnerved me the most about this situation, apart from the part where he shot two guards with perfect shot placement -basically all kill shots, that him _ghosting_ beside me without making a sound is what was really unnerving about this whole ordeal.

He used to make so much noise when he walked I could hear him coming from a mile away. Okay that was exaggerating it a bit, but now he was walking like I do, down a flight of _stairs_ , without making a goddammed sound.

Focus sarah, I had to remind myself. What was it he said? _This is not the time or place agent walker._ That's it. **_Agent_** _walker_.  
Stop with all the other thoughts and feelings.

So i pushed back all the thoughts to the back of my head. It was time to get back to agent mode. But _damn, was it difficult._  
I was coming around to the door now. As I paused to listen for sounds, he casually unlocked and proceeded to push open the door.  
I held my breath in the panic at the sound that the door would undoubtedly make, even though there was no way people down here wouldn't have heard gunshots from above.

He stepped out and casually called back "You coming?"

Wait, _What?_  
Where the hell were all the bad guys? Hadn't he said there were ten? Did he lie? What's going _on?_  
When I looked at him bursting with questions, I saw him silently walking away from me but his gun was wasn't held up and aimed infront of him like I would have expected.  
It was in his hands muzzle down, he was walking at ease and away from my stuck position.

How the hell is he at ease in this situation and whats with _so much_ _confidence_ anyways?  
I had to jog to keep up and as soon as i reach him i ask "Where is everyone?"  
He starts laughing now, not the quiet chuckle that was just annoying, but a full laugh. Now practically angry more than annoyed, I slap a hand on his mouth.

His laugh cuts off and he immediately tenses and stiffens under my hand.  
I let my hand drop and raise an eyebrow demanding an explanation.

He looks directly into my eyes, and pauses a bit, as if contemplating weather to explain himself, and then says "When I said ten were down here, I didn't mean ten alive and awake"  
He sighs and continues "However we need to get going. Common" and gesturing with his head he took the lead.

He went straight through the old building, navigating the maze, without a worry. I didn't understand why he picked the rifles if he had already taken care of the people down here.  
I noticed atleast four bodies in a pile off in some distance, it's hard to tell in the dark as to actual number, and i just push that thought out for now as i follow him and ask "Where is the transport?"

He gestures with his muzzle the general direction and says "120 meters in the north-east alley" He scans across the area before stepping out of the building and keeps alert as he jogs towards a.. no.. that can't be.. he gets inside a black mustang.

I quickly jump in the passenger side as he starts the car and revs it out the alley. I gripped the door handle tightly for fear of being in an accident, with the gun resting across my lap, when i remember my earlier thought.  
"Why did you take guns if you had already taken care of the guys in the building?"

He just looks in the rear view mirror. Curious as to what he seems interested in i look too and spot two black SUV's coming after us.  
" _Shit._ Keep driving, I'll shoot"  
"Sure" He says, as if it's the obvious thing to do and not a hint of worry in his voice.  
 _Not the time or place agent walker. Not the time or place.  
_ I turn back and aiming carefully start shooting at the first SUV.  
It slows down but the other comes in front and they both start to move in a file, gaining on us. I aim and start firing again and realize "It's bulletproof"

"Hmm" He says, as though i was making a passing comment on weather.  
"You have a plan?" Atleast he sounds like he has one. Or he is very cocky and actually has no plan.  
"I do. Keep firing" _What the hell?  
_ "Whats your plan?" I response he turns the steering wheel hard to get around a slow moving vehicle and i am tossed into the door.  
I grumble and turn around and sit in my seat "Don't turn like that again without warning me" and strap in.  
"Sorry" Atleast he sounds genuine. But what was the point of that turn?

 _Damn_ , he is keeping me distracted so he wouldn't have to tell me his plan.  
"Stop deflecting. Now what is your plan?" _Go ahead and tell me already._

"You are not going to like it" he says.  
I don't like his tone or his words right now. What the hell? _I am not going to like it?_ What does that mean? "What? What are you thinking?" I ask.  
He suddenly turns left and goes through the gap into the opposite lanes. _He is driving at over a hundred miles an hour in the night against oncoming traffic!_ "What the _hell_ are you doing? _Are you insane?_ " I yell, panic coloring my voice.

"Loosing our tail" he replies merrily.  
 _Loosing our tail?_ Not by going against oncoming LA traffic on a highway at over 100mph. I was more afraid of ending up in a car wreck than the tail following us at this point.

He switches off the lights and pulling on the breaks he spins the wheel, as the car drifts to the left and i see a fright truck go off towards the side missing crashing into the rear end of our vehicle by inches and he turns the wheel the other way and weaving through another couple cars, he pulls on the handbrake and turns on the wheel left again and drifting completely this time he gets the mustang onto the shoulder, facing the correct way now, and turns on the headlights again.

It was all i could do to not scream in panic as i sat clutching my seat, the gun now resting forgotten on my lap, as i sat still terror-stricken and breathing heavily.  
He turns towards me with a small grin but i am just terrified sitting in the seat. My adrenaline is still pumping and i can still hear my own heart beating in against my ribcage. _What the fuck?_

His smile fades and he grimaces. _Did i say that out loud?  
_ "Yeah, you said that out loud" He chuckles again. What the hell is with his chuckles anyways?

"How the hell did you do that?" I ask instead.  
" _Grand theft auto_ " He says nonchalantly.  
"What!? You have stolen a car and drove around like this before?"  
"Haha, i was-i was talking about the game. But sure, I have stolen cars and drove around fast before, you know, in the game" That last bit he says with a laugh, however, it never reaches his eyes, and is something much like that glint I had noticed in his eyes earlier.

I sighed. It was a rather strange dream. But even if any of it was real, in the dream real, not real-real, how did he get the skills to jump through a window and shoot two people, and the remaining ten he had apparently _handled_ before coming for me.

It was a rather bizarre dream, I decided. Maybe they had given me something afterall, in which case i should stop thinking about chuck.

"Why don't you relax? There's no one tailing us now and I'm gonna drive to the edge of town"  
"The edge of town? Why? What's there?"  
"New car. To get rid of this one"  
Hmm. That meant that this wasn't his car. It was nice as cars went, I owned a porsche and loved it, but somehow i just couldn't picture him with this particular mustang.  
I didn't relax though. I suppose he noticed that, because he said "Trust me sarah"

Trust him, he had asked. I trust you, I wanted to say but i couldn't get the words out.  
I sighed not wanting to think too much over that but decided to take him up on his advice and relaxed into my seat.  
I was aware as the car pulled up and then stopped, though I didn't particularly feel upto opening my eyes at the moment. I was aware as he picked me up off the seat gently into his arms and carried me across and sat me in another one.  
I was also aware as he got in the drivers' seat some time later and hotwired the car and drove.

For some reason that slipped me, though I was kind of terrified of his driving from before, I now felt safe as I drifted a little more into sleep.

* * *

 **A/N :** _So, of course they don't confront and end up in a standoff right in the old factory, but rest assured it's coming._  
 _Also we'll find out from some flashback what happened back when sarah left._

 _For those of you who think chuck is acting very arrogant or cocky, he has become a top class CIA agent, who much prefers working alone, and has done a lot of bad things, much like sarah.  
So, then ofcourse he has also closed off and become much like her._  
 _Now when they confront each other, how will sarah handle the change in her chuck?_

 _What are your thoughts and views?_  
 _Read and Review._  
 _Cheers!_


	5. Chapter 5

**.**

 **Chuck vs Charles**

 **Chapter 5**

 **Chuck vs Mixed Feelings**

* * *

 **A/N :** _New chapter. Yay!_

 _Disclaimer : I don't own chuck, or any of the cars mentioned, all rights belong to their respective owners._

* * *

 _Some motel parking lot, LA - 0310 hours_

His mind reeled as he opened the door and looked at her sleeping in the passenger seat.  
Should I wake her and ask her to move to the other car?  
Knowing she was a highly trained spy, she had to be a light sleeper. She would wake up if I tried to move her.  
She could very well be awake right now.  
So, with that thought in mind and a small smile on my lips, I bent down and picked her up and carried her over to the other car and sat her in the passenger seat.  
She _didn't_ stir.  
It confirmed my suspicions of her being awake, but I decided to let her be at the moment.

I proceeded to wipe my prints from the mustang, and once it was clean, I left it with hope that it would be returned to its owner soon enough.  
The newer car I just hotwired isn't as nice or as fast as the mustang I just abandoned, but this Toyota is far less conspicuous than that.  
That and I don't want Ellie to see me driving the neighbor's mustang.  
So, I sat comfortably in the toyota and drove it back towards the city.

I parked the car in front of a hotel and sighed.  
She was still sleeping, and so I got out closed the door, making sure to be as quiet as possible, and walked up to the reception and booked a room.  
After paying for it and getting the key card, I walked back towards the car's passenger side door and opened it -she was still asleep. Either she is faking it -in which case she just wants me to carry her again, or she is actually asleep.  
I looked apprehensively at her for two seconds, then simply picked her up, and started to walk into the hotel.

Given the time, there weren't many people around, so I quickly walked in across the lobby straight to the lift and punched the button. I didn't want to stay in the lobby any longer than necessary.

I decided that getting something out of your pocket while also carrying a beautiful, sleeping spy in your arms was a bit of a challenge.  
I managed it, however, and opened the door slowly, again making sure the door made as little sound as possible and carried her in.

I still had to go back to Ellie's and shower and get back here before she woke up.  
I slowly placed her on the bed.  
I took off her heals, god knows how she runs wearing those, to make her comfortable.

So leaving her like that only stopping to pull the covers over her and leaving her a note she can find in the morning, I started toward the door, only to stop as her hand caught mine as soon as I turned away from her.  
Huh, she had finally woken up, or maybe simply acknowledging that she was awake the whole time.  
I turned back towards her to ask her if she needed anything else and saw that she was still sleeping.  
 _She was still in sleep and had grabbed my hand in sleep._

It was more likely than not, a spy reaction and not some cheesy romantic move like in an old movie, so I slowly extricated my hand from her grip and slipped out of the room.  
And as I went I never heard her softly call out chuck as I slipped out and closed the door behind me.

* * *

 _Casa woodcombe  
Echo park, LA - 0400 hours_

Damn, in my hurry I had forgotten that I no longer had the keys to Ellie's door.  
I could knock and then tell her I had gone out for a run or something. But I would have to wait an hour at the minimum to use that excuse and not really wanting to wait that long or try to explain why I was wearing all black clothing, I walked over to the morgan door and slowly pried it open. As I looked into what was once my old room, I almost groaned.  
Now it had become Devon's exercise room. There was a cycle and a few sets of weights and other equipment around.  
While it didn't have as many equipment's as the gyms I was now used to, it still atleast had a bench press, a cycle and a set of weights. I can maybe exercise here later.  
I walked into the living room and went straight to my bag, pulling off my shirt and rolling it into a bundle I stashed it in.  
I also took out my gun and the magazines and put them in the bag.  
I grabbed a comfortable pair of slacks and a shirt and zipped the bag close and made my way to the shower.

After showering I sneaked a look at the time and saw that it was 6 in the morning.  
I wrote a note saying that I was going for a run, and pulled on my shoes and headed out.

* * *

 _Unknown location_  
 _Somewhere in LA - 0650 hours_

Sarah was aware of her surroundings as she woke but she didn't stir.  
I could see the sun outside the window, it was just over dawn.  
If I had to guess, it was probably a little later than 7 o'clock. I was in a bed at a hotel room.  
I was alarmed not because I was in the bed but because I didn't remember getting there.  
I slowly turned over feigning sleep to see if there was someone else in the room and relaxed a fair bit when I saw that I was alone.

I proceeded to scrutinize the whole room to make sure I didn't miss anything.  
I was alone and in a hotel room. _Nothing new._

I quickly sat up and started remembering what had happened.

 _I had got an assignment to assist Carina Henson._  
 _I was called and told it was a matter of some import, and that I had to retrieve a package._  
 _Then when I was a fair bit excited at seeing carina again, I was told the job was in LA._  
 _I had grumbled a fair bit but still flown in and had come to the Marriot where carina was set up._  
 _I had left at 7 o'clock, so,_ that would put it at 12 hours ago from now, _and then went to the party that Carl was throwing.  
It was a lavish party, even though it was mostly a front so other businesses could be carried out.  
We walked in with almost all eyes on us, and we went about mixing with people, talking, drinking and dancing – rather saucily in carina's case, and we met the host of the party.  
We were supposed to case the place. So we could retrieve the package later.  
Carina, of course, had ended up seducing and borrowing the key card for the safe while making out with the lovely host on the dance floor, and she had been quite proud of herself until Carl had realized it, and when I was breaking into the safe, he had activated the security systems.  
Alarm had been set off and had alerted the guards.  
Carina had come running, although she hadn't bothered helping me, she had proved a nice little distraction - that is until she took the briefcase and slipped out._  
 _So, carina had taken off with the stolen briefcase while I was stuck defending myself from carl's security systems and hired muscle._  
 _The muscle weren't a threat to me however as I had taken down five of the guards. But then I had - then I must have been tranqed from behind while I was fighting._  
 _I remembered coming to in an old factory, and being interrogated - politely questioned really, by julio and his boss. Then I had tried to escape.  
I had to get out of her chair if I hoped to get out of the room, and since my hands were handcuffed together behind the chair and her legs were zip tied to the chair legs - but the chair itself was a metal one and wasn't bolted to the ground.  
All I had to do was lift the chair to slip off the zip tie and let the chair fall, after I had slipped off one zip tie when the chair had been tipped sideways._  
 _I then killed julio, and holy shit,_ CHUCK _was there!_

No, no no no, that couldn't be right.  
But as I thought about it, there was no way I could have come back from there, unless... the whole thing was a dream, and I was still in it, and they were going to question me by making me think I was safe.  
 _Geez, get a grip walker._

But it made no sense. I was clearly missing some vital information I didn't have.  
He looked - he looked _nice_ was all I could think. After years of not seeing him, though I quite liked his lanky build, he looked much better fit, his face better angled, and there was that hint of firm muscles beneath his shirt..  
What the _hell_ am I thinking? I shook my head and noticed a paper folded and kept on the small bed side table. Damn, how did I miss that?  
It read,

 _It's safe. Don't leave the room._  
 _I'll come by in the morning -C_

Hmm. He hadn't said _when_ in the morning.  
It's signed C. What does that mean? Chuck? Carmichael?  
It was him, I couldn't have dreamed up all of that, even though he seems to visit my dreams sometimes.

I decided a shower will clear my head and allow me to think clearly.  
Stripping off my partially there dress, I got under the shower and turned it all the way up to hot.  
I would shower and then wait for chuck to get here. Then, I would demand my answers.  
Answers like what the hell was he thinking? And what the hell was he doing there.

Next after I was satisfied, I would have to call in to the boss.  
That would most definitely be a conversation I was not looking forward to, because that would be a conversation in which I would get my ass handed to me.  
Even though carina would drop off the package with the right people, I am pretty sure that letting carina take off with the suitcase isn't likely to sit well with graham.  
Oh, and there's that getting captured thing too. _That_ I definitely didn't look forward to explaining.  
What was going on? Why would chuck be running around alone? Surely Casey and whoever else is there wouldn't let him go off on his own like that, right?

I sighed and pushed all those thoughts to the back of my mind and simply concentrated on relaxing all of my muscles one by one.  
After some time deciding I was as relaxed as I was likely to get, I hopped out of the shower and headed into the room while wrapping a towel around myself.

It was good I had wrapped a towel because as I stepped into the room I saw chuck sitting at ease on the couch and in front of him on the small coffee table, were two cups of coffee and what looked like breakfast in two paper bags.  
Suddenly all the questions that I had pushed back exploded to the front of my mind.

He looked up and faltered seeing me and his gaze lingered a half a second more at my body but he quickly schooled his expression and it became blank.  
I immediately felt immense sadness at seeing that his expression had gone blank as mine.  
A poker face I had perfected, had hidden behind whenever there was need.  
I knew the answer to what they had turned him into. I _knew_ it, but I almost didn't want to hear it for the fear of saying it out loud might make it real.  
No. What the hell have you done to him? _Why?  
_  
Although my outward appearance didn't change, on the inside I felt as if someone had stabbed me with a knife and was twisting it repeatedly, making a large hole in body, and leaving a bloody mess all over.  
 _Stop.  
_  
I would talk when he was ready to talk.  
Until then, I would wait. _Push it away as far as I can.  
_ Of course, chuck will confront me sooner rather than later.

Pushing those thoughts away I looked at him again, just as he smiled - a warm smile, though it didn't completely reach his eyes it was still friendly.  
And for that I was happy as I returned it with a smile of my own.  
"Good morning Sarah. Breakfast?" He asked as he gestured towards the table.

My mind was running on autopilot as I came over to the table and sat opposite him, with my legs crossed one over the other and picked up my coffee. I carefully took a sip and was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was just the way i liked it.  
I also noticed that he had on fresh clothes, now donning a white v-neck underneath a dark olive jacket, with black slacks and shoes.  
He no longer wore his chucks either.  
I also concluded that it hadn't been my imagination and that he actually looked a _whole_ lot nicer, maybe it was just because I was seeing him after so long, or that it was because I had felt attracted to him, or maybe simply, and _especially_ , because he looked a whole lot hotter.  
I suspected it was all of the above.

I set down the coffee and pulled towards myself a paper bag to inspect it, and in it I found chocolate croissants.  
I lifted one up to my mouth and eyed it critically before biting into it and letting all the goodness of chocolate wash over me.

.

* * *

 **A/N :** _I know I updated later than my usual stipulated time, but since i have exams going on, maybe let it slide this time?  
_ _The next update might also be a little later than usual, but I will try my best to get it posted under a week._

 _So, this chapter was setting the stage for what's about to come in the next chapters, and there will be a bit more flashback, and a bit more of action, and all that good stuff!  
_ _And, keep in mind, according to sarah - although she is good at her job, the job changes you - it basically eats you up until you are hollow. That is just to say that her reaction will be justified according to her.  
_  
 _Thanks for all the reviews and PMs, I love hearing from you guys!  
Cheers!_


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